Dominican Republic
| Country summary | |
|---|---|
|
Capital |
Santo Domingo |
|
Borders |
Haiti 360 km |
|
Government type |
democratic republic |
|
Population |
9,650,054 (July 2010 est.)[1] |
|
Population growth |
1.489% (2010 est.)[1] |
|
Life expectancy |
73.7 years[1] |
|
Unemployment |
15% (2009 est.)[1] |
|
86[2] | |
|
99[3] | |
|
86[4] | |
Explored and claimed by Christopher COLUMBUS on his first voyage in 1492, the island of Hispaniola became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821 but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930-61. Juan BOSCH was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore BOSCH. In 1966, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in an election to become president. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. Former President (1996-2000) Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna won election to a new term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term, and was since reelected to a second consecutive term.[1]
Economical characteristics
- Currency: Peso (ISO code: DOP)
- Central bank discount rate: [1]
- Commercial banks lending rate: 19.95% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Stock of money (M1): $3.619 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
- Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $5.902 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
Notable events:
- Banking crisis: 1894, 1996, 2003[5]
- Public default: 1872-1888, 1892-1893, 1897, 1899-1907, 1931-1934, 1982-1994, 2005 (external), 1975-2001 (domestic)
- Years in inflation: 6.6% (share of years 1844-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)[6]
Statistics
| Statistic / Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (million USD)[7] | 21 709 | 23 997 | 24 895 | 26 570 | 21 268 | 22 039 | 34 004 | 35 953 | 41 317 | 45 541 |
| Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] | 16.740 | |||||||||
| Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] | 14.247 | 15.821 | 16.199 | 17.633 | ||||||
| Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] | 13.727 | 14.441 | 14.846 | 14.789 | ||||||
| Debt to revenue (years) |
References
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Dominican Republic", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Dominican Republic", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Transparency International. "Dominican Republic", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Doing Business. "Dominican Republic", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 360 and p. 380 (under the name 'Santo Domingo'). (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
- ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 41. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
- ↑ World Bank. "Dominican Republic: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Dominican Republic: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Dominican Republic: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Dominican Republic: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
Links
- Dominican Republic on Wikipedia
- Central bank of Dominican Republic
- Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
